RICHMOND, Ind. — The Wayne County Jail's newest officer is 2 years old, stands just a couple of feet high, is a bit hairy and already has a reputation among the inmates.

Wayne County Sheriff Jeff Cappa on Wednesday introduced the county commissioners to Gjuri (pronounced Guh-jury), the German shepherd/Belgian malinois mix from Hungary who began work at the jail last week.

Gjuri's handler is Sgt. Josh Wolfal, a shift supervisor who works nights at the county jail. The duo spent about 120 hours training together before Gjuri began working.

Cappa said the department spent $10,000 from its commissary fund to add the dog to the staff.

Gjuri can sniff out illegal drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana as well as cell phones and tobacco. His job is to help the staff keep contraband out of the jail.

"We're seeing a very large increase in the amount of contraband that they're trying to slip into our facility ... (and) nationwide as well," Cappa said.

"I've been looking at a lot of different tools that we could use, and one of those tools was a full-body scan. Unfortunately, those are around $100,000 to $150,000. ... This was the next step that we were going to do to help us in looking at those type of situations."

Cappa told the commissioners that Gjuri already has proven himself useful in a couple of situations. His nose is so good, he was able to sniff out a staple with tobacco residue on it in one of the cells.

Sgt. Josh Wolfal is the handler for the Wayne County Jail's new officer, Gjuri.(Photo: Photo supplied by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office)

"I can guarantee you that probably after Friday when he was in that building that they (the inmates) know that he's finding stuff and the word is getting out," Cappa said.

Gjuri will be used to do basic walkthroughs in the jail as well as threshold searches in which he sniffs the bottom of cell doors to see if he notices anything. When new prisoners arrive, the dog can perform a "free-air sniff" within two feet of the detainee.

He'll also be around during visitation periods to help make sure nothing is smuggled to an inmate.

Gjuri is the third dog for the department, and although Cappa is in his last year as sheriff, he hopes his successor won't stop there.